"We had dogs tied to hubcaps and kept outside. We didn't have a leash law. We didn't have many dogs spayed or neutered. We had 50 strays" a year compared to four or five nowadays.

"The pound seizure law was in effect," which meant if dogs weren't claimed within seven days, "Harvard would come and get them. They were strictly going off for research purposes. There was no chance for adoption.

"The town had no dog pound. (Strays) were tied up at the individual dog officer's house. There was no money for veterinary care. The county paid a per-day fee for food for the seven days they were being held.

"The purpose, originally, was for the town to get its act together," build a small pound and adopt a leash law. The bigger picture came into view after Laurie Mottle spotted the gun-toting dog officer in her yard.

Almy was chasing an injured animal because the anesthesia in her gun hadn't worked, "so I was running through these yards with this gun. She's one of the people I met. Laurie turned out to be a moving force."

Mottle was instrumental in getting a building, phone and nonprofit status for the group, Almy said. Eventually, she was also instrumental in changing the group's name from Hopkinton Humane Society to the more regional-sounding Baypath.

In the beginning, though, it was strictly local.

"We had dog kennels at people's houses until neighbors complained," said Almy. Then the group got a trailer from Framingham's Perini Corp. and set up across from Hopkinton Junior-Senior High. Neighbors complained about the unsightly orange trailer, so it was moved to Trimount in Ashland before the current Rafferty Road site was found.

Thirty years, hundreds of volunteers and thousands of dogs and cats later, the shelter continues to give animals second, third and fourth chances.

The no-kill facility might have to put down a terminally ill or vicious animal, but "we never do it for space," said Elaine Brem, a Framingham resident who's been a Baypath volunteer for about 20 years.

"It just takes that certain person for that certain dog," said Brem's friend and former neighbor, Helen Miller, who's been at Baypath "off and on" for 25 years while living in Framingham and Hopkinton.

By now, Brem and Miller can usually tell a good match when they see it.

"What we try to do is say, 'Go see who you like,' then we can steer them in the right direction," said shelter manager Blair Boyd. "I've had people come in and have their heart set on a dog and I've had to say, 'No, that's not the dog for you.' "

There have been wonderful stories, like the one about Duchess, an older dog who found a home after four years at the shelter.

"We just let a couple of dogs go to NEADS" service dog organization for training, said Miller. "We also get some who have flunked out," said Almy.

It hasn't been all rosy, though. They've found puppies abandoned at the state park, which abuts the shelter, and kittens near the water's edge. "Someone was trying to drown them," said Miller.

Then there was the time they found a female dog in heat tied to a post.

They've heard a lot of excuses for why an animal had to be surrendered, from new rugs in the house to the call Brem said she'll never forget.

"A guy said he had to bring in his Rottweiler," so she asked him what the problem was. "He's drinking all my beer" was the reply that left her shaking her head.

On the whole, "the standards have been raised" for animal care in the past 30 years, said Almy.

"The spay/neuter program has been so successful in Massachusetts, we have a shortage" of dogs, said Miller, so some Baypath dogs now come from Indiana rescue groups.